Love All Always, Liz Truss, Parallel Histories
Yang Tenbo
Extensive links with a greater power: the case of China
Extensive links with a greater power: the case of the USA
Valuing Trump, the USA and China in 2020:
Overview
Introduction
Self and other: perceived USA, UK and SU contributions to defeating the Nazis
The opinions of people in 33 countries worldwide
Leader and country: Trump and the USA
Valuing the self: the distribution of opinion in the USA
Valuing the USA: the distribution of opinion in the UK
Valuing the USA: the distribution of opinion worldwide
Relations with China
Valuing China: the distribution of opinion in the UK
Valuing China: the distribution of opinion in the USA
UK Labour Party members’ perceptions of different countries
Overview of the results
The Holocaust: mean opinion and opinion variation
Appendix 1: The Times account of Yang Tenbo’s links
Appendix 2 Other news sources on that day about Yang Tenbo
Appendix 3 Subsequent reports in The Times, 18-20 December 2024
Love All Always, Liz Truss, Parallel Histories
Love China. Love USA. These are necessary logical consequences of the injunction Love All Always.
A contrasting view is that of Liz Truss who “saw the world in Manichean terms, the good guys against the bad. China and Russia were certainly the latter, while the former were exemplified by the United States …”
Truss at 10. How Not To Be Prime Minister. Anthony Seldon with Jonathan Meakin. London: Atlantic Books. p.150.
Not for her, the empathetic understanding of both sides as practised by Parallel Histories.
“History without fear: class teaches both sides of Israel-Palestine conflict.” The Observer, December 15, 2024: 17.
Parallel Histories: https://parallelhistories.org.uk/
The Sinking of The Lisbon Maru is a film “that makes a powerful argument for the value of stories that challenge our crude political and cultural affiliations” … “as Britain questions its links with China.” [USA, Japan, UK, China]
“Buried war story challenges our neat narratives.” The Times, p.25.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sinking_of_the_Lisbon_Maru.
Yang Tenbo
There are seven photographs of Yang Tenbo in today’s Times: with Prime Minister David Cameron, with Prime Minister Theresa May, with Prince Andrew (three photos), and two other photos. There is coverage on six pages including comment and editorial (pp 1, 4 8-9, 25, 27). The story has been front page on Saturday, Monday and today, Tuesday 16 December 2024 (and 17th).
The expressions “ ‘spy’ ” and “alleged spy” are used. The phrase “no suggestion of wrongdoing” is applied to (1) Dominic Hampshire, Prince Andrew’s senior adviser; (2) Coeus, Ron Dennis and Maclaren; and (3) Jean Jameson and Alistair Michie of the UK-China Business Leaders Confederation, in relation to the links which these people and organisations had with Yang Tenbo.
Yang Tenbo came to the UK as a student in 2002 – twenty-two years ago. In addition to the linkages he had with the people mentioned in the previous paragraph, he has had links with various people and organisations in political, business and cultural spheres in addition to the royal family in relation to Prince Andrew. See Appendix below.
“Behind the scenes MI5 has been pushing successive governments to formally designate China a threat to national security.” (p.8) Charlie Parton of the Royal United Services Association said “it was essential to combat Chinese coercion and espionage”. Luke de Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, and Sam Dunning of UK-China Transparency are also cited.
The Times Editorial is headed:
“Friends in high places. While the government seeks increased economic co-operation with China, it must not allow Beijing’s sustained campaign of espionage in Britain to go unchallenged.” (p. 27). The Editorial refers back to the time when prime minister David Cameron (2010-2016) and chancellor George Osborne “were hailing a golden dawn of bilateral relations” with China.
Yang Tenbo says he has “done nothing wrong or unlawful” and “the widespread description of me as a spy is entirely untrue”.
Extensive links with a greater power: the case of China
Here is how the Times Editorial sees it:
“China’s influence radiates across Britain. Russell group universities rely on Chinese fees, Confucius institutes spread the word and hackers roam the net in search of secrets. Britain, it seems has become a playground for Beijing’s spies.”
December 17, 2024: 27.
Extensive links with a greater power: the case of the USA
Of course the UK (and many other countries) have long had extensive links with another greater power, namely the USA. Here is how Gerard Baker sees it.
“Because American – I use the word carefully – is the lingua franca of the world, because American popular culture is so deeply embedded in the consciousness of people everywhere, because American technology and its products supply the architecture of so much of our working and non-working lives, because almost every item of news that happens in America is transmitted instantly into every home and every phone in every corner of the planet, the rest of the world can be easily tricked into thinking it knows America and that America is just like the rest of us … The ascendancy of the US-led democratic capitalist world order in the past half-century …”
“Trump’s no freak, he’s the ultimate American. Obama and Biden tried to make the US more like Europe but the 47th president is a throwback to national exceptionalism.”
Gerard Baker, The Times, Friday 6 December 2024: 23.
Gerard Baker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Baker
Valuing Trump, the USA and China in 2020
See particularly pages 8-20 in:
The self and the other: national opinions worldwide .
Overview
Introduction
Self and other: perceived USA, UK and SU contributions to defeating the Nazis
The opinions of people in 33 countries worldwide
Leader and country: Trump and the USA
Valuing the self: the distribution of opinion in the USA
Valuing the USA: the distribution of opinion in the UK
Valuing the USA: the distribution of opinion worldwide
Relations with China
Valuing China: the distribution of opinion in the UK
Valuing China: the distribution of opinion in the USA
UK Labour Party members’ perceptions of different countries
Overview of the results
The Holocaust: mean opinion and opinion variation
Appendix 1: The Times account (16.12.24, p.8) of Yang Tenbo’s links
Duke of York
Eurasia Global Partners
Pitch@Palace
China’s vice minister of commerce; Chinese ambassador
Secret Chinese venture (?)
Pitch@Palace
Political contacts
2011 Newland International Communications Group paid for John Prescott visit to
China
2015 First UK-China Business Leaders Summit … chancellor George Osborne
2016 Second … David Cameron
2024: https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202406/1313450.shtml
Terracotta army …
… 2017 displayed in National Museum of Liverpool; Hampton Group
Gordonstoun Chinese expansion
2019 long-term multi-school agreement
Alleged spy’s past
2002- MA in public administration and public policy, York University
China lobbyist
2010 Chinese embassy and Shanghai Expo.
London Consultancy
McLaren Automotive. Glaxo-Smith-Kline, Coeus International
Barbara Judge
2017 Head of the Institute of Directors. Fashion and home businesses. B&H
Enterprises Limited
Business Confederation
UK-China Business Leaders Confederation
Appendix 2 Other news sources on that day about Yang Tenbo
BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3dx1yzzerlo
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/12/16/chinese-spy-allegations-anonymity-house-of-commons/ ;
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1989341/chinese-spy-named-prince-andrew ;
Appendix 3 Subsequent reports in The Times, 18-20 December 2024
Attention turned to:
the involvement of the Duke’s assistant, Amanda Thirsk (18.12.24: 13);
the Peking University HSBC Business School UK (PHBS-UK) at Boar’s Hill outside Oxford (19.12.24: 9);
the composition of the Chinese arm of the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace (20.12.24: 9).
Oxford: https://www.pku.org.uk/ ;
Shenzhen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peking_University_HSBC_Business_School .
THE END